


One Hell of a Role

by alwayspondering



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler, Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon Compliant, Cheritz, Circus Arc (Kuroshitsuji), Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, RFA Party (Mystic Messenger), Reader is Main Character (Mystic Messenger), Zen is Sebastian Michaelis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:48:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24654835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alwayspondering/pseuds/alwayspondering
Summary: Zen is starring in the role of Sebastian Michaelis in the Korea debut of "Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus." An avid Black Butler fan, MC is eager to help him with this one hell of a role.
Relationships: Zen | Ryu Hyun/Main Character, Zen | Ryu Hyun/Reader
Comments: 4
Kudos: 24





	1. His Butler: Cast

“I’m simply..  
_one_ hell of a butler..  
_Simply.._  
One.. hell of a _but_ ler..  
_..Damn it.”_

A moment of aggravated silence.

The frustration was so evident in Zen’s voice, even from the next room over. Zen had only received the offer of this role the day before, and MC was sure he was going on about five hours of sleep. _He certainly is dedicated._ A closeted _Black Butler_ fan, MC sat stiffly in her chair, trying to ignore how he was _doing. it. all. wrong._ She knew he’d just gotten the role, and knew that he would do his research as the rehearsal process went on. Regardless, it still surprised her that he’d never heard anything about the show. Especially considering how popular it had become over the last couple of years with the new musical adaptation.  
_Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus_ had already played in Japan, so now the news of the show debuting in Korea was creating lots of media buzz. Especially with _Zen_ playing the lead. Within less than 24 hours, there were already edits of Zen as Sebastian and tons of fanart on Tumblr. That wasn’t including the influx of hundreds of thirsty fangirl comments.

**“oH mY gOD ZEN IS GOING TO BE SEBA-CHAN! >//<”  
“Zen’s gonna be soooooo hot! Already bookmarked the ticket website!! <3”  
“EAT MY SOUL DEMON DADDY”**

MC had learned to block out these sorts of comments, but she knew for sure that Sebastian fangirls were a whole new sub-culture.

It was endearing that Zen was already trying to work on one of Sebastian’s most iconic lines, but MC could tell he couldn’t figure out the intonation. She knew there was a specific way this line had to be said if he was to please die-hard fans. Her included. 

“..Yes, my _lord.._  
Yes.. _My_ lord..  
_Yes,_ my lord..”

Another moment of silence and an exasperated sigh following. 

MC knew all too well that a mix of exhaustion and frustration in Zen usually caused him to shut down. She couldn’t let him continue on like this for much longer. One thing she knew would help Zen snap out of his current state was some comfort food. In particular, a bag of Honey Buddha Chips.

As MC walked to their food pantry, Zen didn’t look up once. There was no telling what thoughts were swirling through his mind. Grabbing two bags, MC made her way back to the living room. MC poked her head out carefully, seeing Zen’s expression scrunched in concentration. He was sitting on the couch, his leg bouncing frantically. _A tell-tale nervous habit of his._ On the coffee table there were two empty energy drinks and a newly-opened beer. _Another nervous habit of his._ Zen mouthed the lines silently, his eyes skimming over the paper. 

“Hey, Zen.”  
At the sound of his name, Zen’s gaze dazedly focused on his girlfriend.  
“..I thought you could use a little break.” MC spoke calmly, taking a few steps forward and holding out the bag of Honey Buddha chips.  
Zen’s crimson gaze lingered to the clock, which blinked 9:30 P.M. His eyes squinted, as if he was reading it wrong.  
“..Wow.. I really lost track of time, didn’t I?” A soft chuckle escaped his lips.  
MC moved closer.  
“You should eat something.” She returned a gentle smile, handing the chips to Zen and sitting down in the seat closest to the couch he had settled on. He took the bag in his hands, opening it immediately and popping a chip in his mouth.  
He closed his eyes, letting out a sigh of satisfaction.  
“ _Damn._ These are so good..”  
MC laughed at his reaction, shaking her head.  
“That may just be because you haven’t eaten since breakfast, you big dummy.”  
With this, Zen’s expression melted into a playful pout, popping another chip in his mouth. That soon softened into a charming smile.  
“You’re probably right.”  
Another chip.  
“..You don’t know how much I needed this, babe.”  
“Oh, I know. I could basically hear you fuming from the next room over.” MC half-joked, opening her own bag of chips.  
“Gotcha, gotcha.” Zen picked up his beer, taking a quick sip and setting it back down.  
MC could only think of one way to bring the conversation back to the lines.

“Hm.. Honey Buddha Chips and beer. That must be one _hell_ of a combination.”  
He paused on his way to take another sip, his eyes widening as he turned to face MC.  
“..One _hell_ of a combination?” Zen repeated slowly, emphasizing the ‘hell’ just as MC had. He studied her expression.  
_Finally._ Zen emphasized the right word.  
“Precisely. One _hell._ ”  
“..Oh.. Actually, that makes a lot of sense.” He confirmed, picking up his script once more.  
Clearing his throat, Zen took another quick sip of beer and his gaze flickered back towards the paper.

“I’m _simply.._ One _hell_ of a butler.”  
MC immediately felt a blush burn in her cheeks as Zen spoke the line.  
“Yeah, that felt right. Way more natural than my other attempts.” His glance flickered back towards MC, noticing the pink hue in her cheeks immediately.  
“You liked that, babe?” A smile melted onto his lips.  
“ _Yes,_ my _lord._ ” Popping another chip in her mouth, she began to picture Zen with Sebastian’s signature black hair. 

_Damn._

A charming smile hinted on his lips at this reply, patting the empty couch seat next to him.  
“..But you know, Zen..” MC stood from her seat and plopped herself down next to Zen.  
“..You’re not perfect yet. You have a lot of work to do if you want to please all your new fangirls.”  
She laced her fingers with his.  


“You know, MC.." Zen softly brushed his lips against the back of her hand.  
"..The only ‘fangirl’ I care about pleasing is _you.”_  


“Oh, stop it..” She rolled her eyes playfully at this overly cheesy phrase. Reaching over him, MC grabbed his beer and took a long sip.  
“I say the next step is to actually _watch_ some _Black Butler,_ whaddya say?”  
“Sounds like one _hell_ of a night.”


	2. His Butler: Meeting the Cast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zen leaves to go to the first read-through for Kuroshitsuji: Book of Circus. He meets some of his co-stars, who he's sure will make this production interesting to say the least.

One _hell_ of a night turned a whole weekend. Binge-watching all three seasons. Rehearsals were starting the upcoming week on Wednesday evening. It was a quick turnaround, so Zen was eager to watch everything he could about his demon butler, Sebastian. Long nights turned into early mornings of chatting about the episodes. Zen began theorizing and pouring out the emotions that came with such a captivating show. As an actor, Zen was always so expressive in his reactions. It made watching shows like this so worthwhile.  
Up until it was revealed, MC wondered how Zen would react to the fact that Sebastian adores cats.

“Is this.. Are you kidding me? _Cats?!_ Why does a _demon_ like cats?”  
MC giggled, grabbing the tissue box on the nearby table.  
“Shhh.. Just keep watching!”  
“But-” Zen was cut off by a sneeze.  
“It’ll be a great acting challenge for you, right?”  
He made a big show of rolling his eyes at me.  
“Yes. A _challenge,_ alright..”  
Another realization hit him and his crimson eyes widened to the size of marbles.  
“.. _Oh, god._ Jumin’s never gonna let me live this one down.”  
MC couldn’t help but stifle a laugh at this. The chat conversations were bound to be entertaining in the coming weeks once Zen made a reappearance.  


Since the news of casting came out, neither Zen or MC had been taking part in many of the RFA chats. But she knew they were keeping themselves occupied planning the newest charity party. She figured Jaehee had already heard the news about Zen and informed the rest of the chat. MC wondered if Jaehee had anonymously added to the slew of fangirl comments recently. 

Whenever Zen got invested in something, he had several tell-tale signs. He’d lean forward, crimson gaze locked on the screen, his big hands squishing his face while supporting his chin. Just looking at his profile like this was enough to make anyone swoon. His long white hair, slightly disheveled from the long days on the couch, his sharp jawline, and his _extremely_ kissable lips.. MC still couldn’t believe sometimes that Zen was all hers. He was such an angel in real life, but she knew he would undoubtedly play the _perfect demon._

So, when Wednesday evening approached, Zen found himself equally nervous and excited. He so wished MC could come with him, but of course that would go against the director’s wishes. Today was the first table read. After doing some quick warmups, Zen kissed MC goodbye and took a big swig of his water bottle on the way out the door. MC shoved a bag of Honey Buddha chips in Zen’s rehearsal bag. 

Arriving at the rehearsal space, he found the typical circular table setup for a read-through. One difference he noticed were the name tags assigned to each seat. _  
Sebastian Michaelis - Zen Ryu_  
The seat to his right:  
_Ciel Phantomhive - So Ji-hyun_  
And to his left:  
_Joker - Ryong Ki_  


Zen glanced around the room, looking at the people clustered around.  


Ryong Ki was a familiar name in the industry. He was known mostly for his tendency to latch onto the Meisner technique. He was a very zen figure, usually found meditating in his free time. He heard that having a conversation with him was an experience of its own. He could tell he had just recently dyed his hair the signature red that Joker had. The only other person he knew in this production semi-well was Jun Hoon, the actress for Beast. He’d worked with Jun in another show, so he was relieved to see a familiar face. Jun had also been one of the ones who’d backed him up during the Echo Girl situation. She already had naturally curly black hair, a signature of Beast’s look. 

Then, So Ji-hyun made an appearance. The young boy playing the role of the infamous Ciel Phantomhive. So was a child actor, currently starring in a show called _So What?_ His fame would certainly rack up the ticket sales. He had plenty of fans, mostly within his age demographic, but he was already becoming somewhat of a household name. 

Making his way to each one of them, Zen formally introduced himself.  
“Hello, I’m Zen. I’m looking forward to working with you.”  
“Hello. I’m Ryong Ki. Vice versa.”  


“Hello, Jun. I’m looking forward to working with you again.”  
“You too, Zen!”  


“Hello, I’m Zen. I’m looking forward to working with you.”  
“I’m So. But I’m sure you already knew that, right?”  


Zen was taken aback by this. He didn’t like to judge based on first impressions, but he could already tell this kid was a little bit of a brat.  
“Yeah, I did. I’m sure we’ll both bring in a bunch of fans, So.”  
“I definitely will, but I don’t know about _you.”_  
Zen blinked, lost for words.  
_This is just a kid. I can’t get angry at a kid._  


He felt a little exasperation bubble up, but he kept it hidden with a forced laugh.  
“Yeah, no guarantees, I guess..”  


So stared at Zen, a deadpan look on his face. Maybe he wouldn’t have to do much acting at all to be like Ciel Phantomhive. He seemed perfect for the role already.  
As he looked around the room for a distraction, Zen realized that he was the only one without the corresponding hair color to his character. Even So had dyed his hair a dark blue, identical to Ciel Phantomhive.  
“So, are either one of your parents here? Or your agent?”  


He searched for the adult that was surely hovering over this kid, hopefully a more level-headed individual than he was. But looking around the room, the more he surmised this kid may have been dropped off. 

“You’re playing my butler, not my babysitter.”  
Was this kid _trying_ to get under his skin?  


“Right.” Zen forced a smile.  
“It’s nice to meet you, So.” Walking away, fuming, Zen made his way to his seat.  


Sitting down, Zen rested his forehead on his palms for a moment. He panicked internally, thinking of the possibility of having to cut his beautiful, long white hair. And _then_ having to dye it black. Other than his gorgeous face, his hair was a signature of his look. The modeling agencies all agreed with this. _Damn it._ He had assumed there would be wigs in this production. Was it stupid of him to have assumed that? Had he missed an e-mail of some sort?  


“New production nerves, huh? I’ve been there before.” Ryong took a sip of his water bottle, observing Zen’s expression.  
“Yeah, dude.” Zen nodded, taking a sip from his own water bottle.  
Maybe it was ridiculous to be freaking out about such a small thing. He needed to calm down before the read-through began.  
And then, So walked up and took his seat beside Zen nonchalantly. Zen immediately picked up the script in front of him, in an attempt to avoid another interaction. Thankfully, So began scanning his script as well.  


After a few minutes of calm chatter as white noise in the room, everyone made their way to their seats. The director of the show walked in, and an applause broke out.  
“Oh, stop it. Stop it!” She laughed, embarrassed from the attention on her.  
“I’m just so grateful to have all you amazingly talented people here to put on this production with me. It’s going to be wonderful.” Her gaze scanned the room, landing on Zen and So.  
“And with that, I won’t make you all wait any longer. Let’s begin, shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to thank you all for your support! I appreciate every single kudos and comment.  
> I hope you enjoy this next lil segment- I'm looking forward to writing future interactions with these new characters!  
> Thanks for reading! ~

**Author's Note:**

> Hi hi hi! Thanks for reading! ~ I had the thought that Zen would be a PERFECT Sebastian in the Kuroshitsuji musical, so I had to get it typed out. Expect a snippet of the rehearsal process, the RFA responding to the news(with Jaehee fangirling, of course), and the debut among other things.


End file.
